Neil Armstrong 1930–2012

Posted on August 26, 2012 by KG

‘..Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps a race of Earthmen,
Out, far, and onward yet —’
Robert A. Heinlein

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

33 Responses to Neil Armstrong 1930–2012

  1. Carol-Christian Soldier says:
    August 26, 2012 at 13:01

    Why do I have to come to my NZ friends to find out what is happening in my Republic! : – )

    You are an hero – Neil Armstrong- I remember watching an ‘old TV’ at school – and being awestruck —the EAGLE has landed – indeed-

    I will meet you sometime- in the better place…heaven-

    thank you CR for keeping me in the US – up to date!
    Carol-CS

  2. oswald bastable says:
    August 26, 2012 at 13:53

    They talk about heros in the media today, but to get in that figgin’ can with a computer that wouldn’t work a microwave oven and land the LM with a couple of seconds fuel margin….

    • Darin says:
      August 26, 2012 at 13:56

      Yep,balls all the way to pull that off in that craft and stay cool all the way down.Different breed for sure.

  3. Darin says:
    August 26, 2012 at 13:54

    R.I.P. Neil Armstrong

  4. KG says:
    August 26, 2012 at 14:26

    It feels as though an age has ended. And perhaps it has.

  5. Katie says:
    August 26, 2012 at 15:05

    Ad Astra Neil Armstrong!!

    :cheers :cheers

  6. Marvin says:
    August 26, 2012 at 15:47

    Neil Armstrong once said “Houston: Tranquility Base here – The Eagle has landed”
    Today he has arrived to stay at Tranquility Base.

  7. Paul Marsden says:
    August 26, 2012 at 18:55

    I was in awe that day, huddled around the Reuters teleprinters as it chattered out the news that July 21, 1969 afternoon (NZ) time. I’m still in awe. RIP Neil Armstrong, the first man ever, to step foot on another planet. You extraordinary, lucky bastard!

    • mawm says:
      August 26, 2012 at 19:18

      Ummm……….the moon is not a planet.

      • Paul Marsden says:
        August 26, 2012 at 20:49

        Don’t be pedantic. Its the next closest thing :grin:

        • The Gantt Guy says:
          August 27, 2012 at 04:21

          I wonder how Pluto feels about being “the next closest thing” :mrgreen:

          Your initial sentiment was wonderfully expressed. I wasn’t around then but I do have the original NZ Herald lift-out (my folks kept it), and I can understand the use of the word “awe”!

  8. Anonymous says:
    August 26, 2012 at 19:03

    Courageous, modest, adventurous, unforgettable. It has been a privilege to occupy this planet at the same time as this true hero.

  9. mawm says:
    August 26, 2012 at 19:25

    “The Unknown Shore”
    by Elizabeth Clark Hardy

    Sometime at Eve when the tide is low
    I shall slip my moorings and sail away
    With no response to a friendly hail
    In the silent hush of the twilight pale
    When the night stoops down to embrace the day
    And the voices call in the water’s flow
    Sometime at Eve When the water is low
    I shall slip my moorings and sail away.
    Through purple shadows
    That darkly trail o’er the ebbing tide
    And the Unknown Sea,
    And a ripple of waters’ to tell the tale
    Of a lonely voyager sailing away
    To mystic isles
    Where at anchor lay
    The craft of those who had sailed before
    O’er the Unknown Sea
    To the Unknown Shore

    A few who watched me sail away
    Will miss my craft from the busy bay
    Some friendly barques were anchored near
    Some loving souls my heart held dear
    In silent sorrow will drop a tear
    But I shall have peacefully furled my sail
    In mooring sheltered from the storm and gale
    And greeted friends who had sailed before
    O’er the Unknown Sea
    To the Unknown Shore
    – Elizabeth Clark Hardy

    RIP Neil Armstrong

  10. Tom Hunter says:
    August 26, 2012 at 21:17

    That’s a beautiful poem. I think that the following passage is still the best description of what these men were like, the quality they possessed above all else, as described by Tom Wolfe:

    This quality, this it, was never named, however, nor was it talked about in any way.

    As to just what this ineffable quality was…well, it obviously involved bravery. But it was not bravery in the simple sense of being willing to risk your life. The idea seemed to be that any fool could do that, if that was all that was required, just as any fool could throw away his life in the process.

    No, the idea here (in the all enclosing fraternity) seemed to be that a man should have the ability to go up in a hurtling piece of machinery and put his hide on the line and then have the moxie, the reflexes, the experience, the coolness, to pull it back in the last yawning moment-and then to go up again the next day, and the next day, and every next day, even if the series should prove infinite – and, ultimately, in its best expression, do so in a cause that means something to thousands, to a people, to a nation, to humanity, to God.

    That was Neil Armstrong.

  11. KG says:
    August 26, 2012 at 21:30

    The Right Stuff. :grin:

  12. Darin says:
    August 26, 2012 at 23:00

    Okay,you have just blasted off from Earth on top of a rocket that with any malfunction would have went off like an atom bomb.
    You have traveled faster than any human being in the history of mankind,transitioned into a computer guided flight of 200,000 miles and have arrived in Lunar orbit.
    Now you have to crawl through a short tunnel and into the LLEM module which you will use to land on the Moon.
    Now consider it weighs less than the average car of the time and was built by the lowest bidder-

    Oh,BTW,if the escape rocket doesn’t fire,you won’t be going home to that little blue ball in the left window :popcorn

  13. Darin says:
    August 26, 2012 at 23:38

    Pretty much,though I always thought their paychecks were a bit light,oh who am I kidding,I’d do it for free :cool:

  15. The Gantt Guy says:
    August 28, 2012 at 10:43

    I wonder what people who climb into something the weight of a Morris Mini, built out of aluminium foil and powered by technology on a scale closer to my lead pencil than my cellphone, and then fly it to the moon, would think about a society that bans schoolchildren from performing handstands and cartwheels without a trained gymnastics teacher to watch them and safety equipment to protect them?

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10829969

    In fact, I wonder what any person other than a clipboard-carrying, hi-viz-vest-wearing safety nazi (i.e. any person with more than a single neuron between their eaars) thinks of such utter utter utter stupidity? :rant :rant :rant :gunner :gunner :gunner (AK is sufficient for this particular task)

    • Darin says:
      August 28, 2012 at 11:01

      Probably say the same thing they would about schools that have been stripped bare of anything approaching science education.

      No chemistry lab,no physics lab,no machine shop.Lot’s of environazi bullshit however.